LOL we asked for that mini pie ‘panini press’ like appliance that think geek had in their email this month! I saw that and immediately thought of making mini chicken turkey or beef pot pies for mrAru to take to work, and all sorts of mini pies that we could make and pop into the freezer for later. As I make a good flaky pastry and a goof puff pastry, it wouldn’t be as expensive as buying the ready made versions =)
Yes!
The color comes from comercial food colorings. The shape comes from one’s proficiency with a $10 pastry bag.
I think it is much more based on the skill of the cook then the quality of the equipment. But if equipment is an issue, there is nothing stopping a home cook from walking into a restaurant supply store and buying whatever small wares they want, including a small Hobart stand mixer. The only other limiting piece of equipment is an oven. If you have a bottom-of-the-line electric stove, I doubt you will get consistant results. But the manufactures of commercial ovens also make high end consumer ovens.
I don’t know if it’s the same thing, but a few months ago, someone here linked to this mini-pie maker available at Williams Sonoma. It’s kind of cool, in a yet-another-gadget-you-don’t-really-need way.
I think you’re using a very narrow, possibly singular, definition of macaroon there - when in fact, there are numerous different varieties, existing in a spectrum that comfortably accommodates macarons as a variety (with its own specific presentations).
As per the Slate article linked above, in the US a macaroon and a macaron are two distinct and different things.
Ok, rather than arguing word history let’s rephrase it this way.
The developing food fad is Parisian macarons and definitely not coconut macaroons. I have, within walking distance of my office several businesses that primarily sell Parisian macarons and none that primarily sell coconut macaroons (though those aren’t hide to find, though unfortunately the Max’s variety of half pounders are too common).
As a side topic, while they may technically be in the same family never have I requested a macaron or a macaroon and had anybody need ask what kind of a variety of items I might mean in order to give me what I wanted. So I wonder if, as you technically once might have needed to specify you wanted tomato ketchup and not, say, mushroom ketchup, the coconut hasn’t won the day on owning the macaroon title.
Pretty much the same thing, just a quarter of the damned cost. I saw one on an overnight crafting infomercial shopping thing, looked fun.
Macaron, macaroon–who cares, that’s all old school, now. Word on the street is that churros are about to go big. Churros, or rice-crispy treats–one or the other. That’s where I’m putting my money.
I tell you what’s big in Japan right now:
Baumkuchen.
I’m not kidding. For no apparent reason a whole heap of Japanese stores have started carrying immaculately presented slices of Baumkuchen. Wonder what it is about this particular cake - pleasant but a little dry and by no means special apart from its construction - that so enamours the Japanese.
Perhaps the trend may carry over to the west? With a twist in order to make it a little more to our taste - perhaps a shit-ton of frosting or something.
The US is not the world, and in my reading, the article talks about them being related and similar.
<Shrug> I don’t want to destroy my own thread over a terminology nitpick. Whatever classfication system works for you is just fine by me.
What you wrote:
What I saw:
[QUOTE=What UB saw]
Deep fried cup cakes? Things are generally batter deep fried.
[/QUOTE]
To which I though: “That goes without saying.”
Hell yes to anything involving sugar and fat and flour.
I have a theory: Cupcakes suddenly transformed from a plebian snack to a gourmet delicacy. So let’s find another presently-common food… and open a Rice Krispie Treat Bakery** (perchance on a trendy gentrified “Streete of Ye Olde Wee Shoppes”).
Hmmm… Cupcakes and cake pops are cutesy, customisable, easily portable/deliverable and can be prepared in advance - I think these are all factors that have contributed to their sudden popularity…
Baumkuchen is interesting, but can it be scaled down to hobby-enterprise level?
Churros might work, but is there a tremendous scope for variety and cutesy presentation?
Popsicles need special handling/storage - so they’re not so easy to peddle to friends/family/colleagues
Krispie treats might work, but they’ll need a decorative/craft-ish twist of some sort. Not impossible though - maybe they’ll just be frosted (I think all the enamel fell off my teeth just thinking about it)
What about iced/decorated cookies? Or have those already been and gone?
I’m seeing tiny desserts- on a spoon, in a 1-4 ounce cup/dish or served in small, edible chocolate cups like this : Chocolate cups on Amazon
Good point. I’ve seen exactly that recently - a plastic bag containing a wooden spoon with the tip embedded in a cup- or ice-cube-shaped block of chocolate. Sometimes accompanied with a weird plastic eyedropper of liqueur. I presume you pop it into a mug of hot milk and make your own hot chocolate.
It’s a Mexican thing too. You can buy packages with plastic spoons coated with some kind of flavored candy concoction. Kids just suck on them.